


Clearer in the Dark

by StrayDevil15



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: 3x20, Attempt at Humor, Canon-Typical Drug Use, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, luci has a nightmare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 03:23:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17052164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrayDevil15/pseuds/StrayDevil15
Summary: Set during Angel of San Bernadino. What if Chloe had been less of an ass towards Lucifer when he couldn't sleep? Storyline doesn't give a **** about canon compliance.





	Clearer in the Dark

"I CAN'T SLEEP!!!" Lucifer screamed. "Detective, I-I can't sleep," he ran his hands through his already dishevelled hair, his wide brown eyes pleading with her. 

"OK. OK," Chloe nodded. "Why can't you sleep, Lucifer, what's going on?" She asked, gently leading him to an empty interrogation room so they could talk in private. 

"It's -," Lucifer swallowed roughly, his nervous tic of fiddling with his cuffs making an appearance. He took a shaky breath, grounding himself. "Do you remember me telling you that my wings grew back?" He started, still twitching a mile a minute. 

"Yeah, I remember," she told him. It wasn't lying, she did kind of remember. Emphasis on the 'kind of'. 

"I think my father stuck them back on me so that he could use me as his pawn again. But since he knows I'd never willingly do those things, he's making me do it in my sleep, when i can't control my actions. That's why I can't sleep, Detective, because if i do, he'll be able to control me again and i can't... I can't let him do that," Lucifer explained, damn near whimpering the last few words. So it was his delusions playing up, alright. She could deal with that. 

"You can't sleep because you think you're being controlled. What if someone stayed with you while you slept, made sure you didnt do anything?" She wondered. 

"That might work, but I'm not sure if I trust anyone that much, or at least anyone who would be willing to do that," Lucifer fiddled with his cuff links again, so different from the suave, overconfident Lucifer she knew as to be almost unrecognisable. 

"What about your therapist, Dr Linda? She wouldn't mind, she'd probably be really good with this sort of thing too," Chloe suggested, only to be met with a decisive head-shake, Lucifer insisting that she was much too busy. "How about Maze?" 

"Definitely not!" Chloe sighed, this was going to be harder than she thought.

"Lucifer, I want to help, but I can't be the one to stay with you because I still need to close this case," she explained, using the same Mom Voice she employed when she needed to get Trixie to listen. 

"Right, i understand. This is more important than a spot of insomnia, no need to worry about me. I'll see you around, Detective." Chloe knew he was right, but her maternal instincts were shrieking at her to chase after him, drag him home and make sure he got a good night's sleep. He needed help, needed her!   
_Work is more important. A man has died, I need to solve this case first.  
_**_Why? He's not going to get any less dead, and since the signs point to it being a crime of passion, whoever killed him probably isn't about to be going on a killing spree. Lucifer is only going to get worse.  
_**_Case. Then Lucifer._  
_**You're doing the exact same thing you divorced Dan for.**_  
 _Shut up._

It only took Chloe another few hours to crack the case, but she had never felt guiltier than when she arrived at Lucifer's penthouse to find him sitting at the bar, staring blankly at the ceiling. She could see several empty cans of energy drinks and what she really hoped was sherbet on the bar top. He didn't respond when the cheerful ding of the elevator announced her presence; didn't move at all until she touched his arm. Yeah, the chances of that white powder being anything legal were rapidly dwindling into the single digits. 

"Oh, hello Detective!" Lucifer laboriously shifted to look at her, his pupils dilated so far she could barely see the warm brown around the edges. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure you were OK," Chloe said earnestly, brushing back a curl that had fallen into his face. "This..." she gestured to the cans and powder, "isn't really my definition of OK."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot my manners, would you like some?" Lucifer asked, leaning back so his head rested on her shoulder. 

"No, absolutely not. And don't tell me what that stuff is, as long as i pretend not to notice it and you don't confess to anything, I wont have to arrest you," Chloe sighed, absentmindedly stroking his hair. It was really soft without all that product and straightening he put it through. Lucifer murmured something, nuzzling into her caress. He was actually weirdly adorable when he was high as a kite and completely exhausted. She allowed herself a couple seconds of giggling under her breath before sobering again. "Hey. Come on you, let's get you to bed, huh?" She helped him up, coaxing him into his bed, trying not to think about how she was tucking a grown man into bed like she would do for her 9 year old daughter. The familiar click of handcuffs locking into place startled her out of her thoughts - Lucifer had fastened one end of a sturdy-looking manacle around his wrist, the other side attached to the bed frame. 

"So it's harder for him to use me as his puppet," Lucifer explained, "it would only slow me down for a few seconds, but even a little bit helps." Chloe had absolutely no idea how Lucifer could believe he could get out of those at all, let alone so quickly but she didn't comment on it, just started to walk away down the hall. "Detective -" 

"It's OK, I'm coming back. Just need to grab something," she reassured him. She found his linen closet easily enough, returning barely a minute later with a scrap of fabric clutched in her hand to a noticeably anxious Lucifer. Since when was he so... needy? She settled next to him on his ridiculously huge bed, using the key she found on the nightstand to unlock the shackle, wrapping the wash cloth around his wrist before securing the heavy thing back on. "So you don't hurt yourself," Chloe explained, noticing Lucifer's slight frown. "Cuffs dig in when you pull on them, and I don't want you to wake up with your wrist all raw and bloody 'cause you kept trying to roll over in your sleep," she elaborated. Lucifer graced her with a sleepy smile, rolling onto his side to face her and hugging a pillow.

"Thank you," he murmured, shifting closer until his head was almost in her lap. Chloe rolled her eyes but didn't push him away, going back to petting his hair and earning a happy rumble. Ella would have kittens tomorrow when she told her that the infamous Lucifer Morningstar PURRED when someone stroked his hair. Not two minutes later he was fast asleep, looking younger and more relaxed than she'd ever seen him. Even if he was still in his normal clothes. She couldn't help the fond smile that crept onto her face at the sight of him so vulnerable and trusting. God, she'd missed him. Craziness and all. Careful not to disturb him - not that it was likely he'd wake up anytime soon, she'd seen corpses who didn't sleep so deeply - Chloe got up and made a pot of coffee. The water hadn't finished boiling when she heard chains rattling, and she hurried back in to see Lucifer tossing and turning, mumbling and whimpering. Was he having a nightmare? She watched anxiously, not sure what to do as Lucifer's distress rapidly escalated. He was crying now, saying something but it was in a language she'd never heard before. Her heart nearly stopped when he switched back to English. 

"Please, please not that, please, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, i'll do anything, anything you want just please not that! I-I'll be the son you always wanted, please, please don't do this, please..." Chloe was crying now too, her heart breaking for Lucifer. What had happened to him? What fate was he so desperate to escape? She didn't have to wonder who'd done this to him: 'i'll be the son you always wanted' told her everything she needed to know. His bastard of a father. Seemingly out of nowhere, Lucifer screamed, his whole body arching and writhing in phantom agony before he jerked awake with a snarl. His wide-eyed gaze found Chloe's tear-streaked face and he hurried to get to her, scrambling forward on his hands and knees on the bed but couldn't reach her before the chain pulled him up short. 

"Chloe?" Lucifer started, his voice rough from tears and sleep. "Chloe, is everything alright love?" She nodded shakily, closing the remaining distance between them and pulling Lucifer into a tight hug, burying her face into his neck. "Shhh, it's OK darling, I'm here, everything's alright now..." he murmured, employing a little telekinesis to undo the shackle so he could hold her properly. "What's happened?" 

"Your nightmare... What did he do to you?" Lucifer stiffened, mentally cursing his father for allowing her to see that. 

"Oh, i was just reliving my fall from Heaven." Chloe chuckled humourlessly, snuggling closer to her friend. If he didn't want to tell her, that was fine. It was probably really personal anyway. "C'mere," Lucifer mumbled, gently pulling her with him as he lay back. She shouldn't have been so OK with this, not when she had sort-of feelings for their boss and Lucifer was the biggest playboy she'd ever met, but she trusted him. This wasn't a sexual thing, just her partner and friend making sure she was OK. She felt safe with him. So much so that it took her a moment to realise the manacle around his wrist had disappeared. 

"What -" 

"Told you i could get out of them," he teased. Chloe shook her head in disbelief. 

"I will never understand you."

"Well, if it's any consolation to your pride, Detective, you're no open-and-shut case either," Lucifer quipped, earning an eye-roll. 

"Dork."

"Sexy dork you mean."

"I like you so much more when you're asleep." 

"That doesn't surprise me." 

Chloe rolled over so she could look at him properly. Lucifer still looked like Hell (pun intended), and he definitely needed more than 20 minutes sleep. 

"You should try and go back to sleep. I'll stay as long as you need me to," she said, tracing her hand down his arm and tangling their fingers together. 

"All night?" He asked doubtfully, a flicker of hope warming his chest. 

"All night," she confirmed, "I've made a pot of coffee and everything." 

"Thank you, you're -" Lucifer interrupted himself with a huge yawn, blinking at Chloe in comical surprise as she giggled. "You're welcome to read anything in the library that catches your fancy," he finished. 

"OK. Sweet dreams, love you," she said without thinking, getting up to grab some coffee and a book. Realising her mistake, she ducked back into Lucifer's bedroom, stumbling over her words as she tried to apologise. 

"Argh, sorry, that was awkward. It's just habit, you know, my daughter... similarities... yep, sorry," Lucifer didn't seem to care, smiling lazily up at her as she blushed and stammered. 

"Love you too," he mumbled, curling up under the covers. This was guaranteed to make work awkward tomorrow, but Chloe couldn't find it in herself to care as she grabbed a time-worn book off the shelf, poured herself a mug of coffee and perched next to him. She might not have meant to say it, but it was true, she realised. 

"Good night, Lucifer."

 


End file.
